13. Conclusions

Twinhead's Durabook N15RI is a quality business notebook computer. Driven by its high performance components, especially its 2 GHz Intel Pentium M CPU and high speed Hitachi 80 GB hard disk drive, the N15RI's performance on office tasks is impressive.

If that's all the N15RI could do it would be worth the price of admission, $1,650 at the time of this writing. But this notebook is also built like the practical pig's house of bricks and no wolf is going to blow it down easily. I'm sure there are ways to destroy the N15RI with a few well placed kicks or stomps. However, it can survive unintentional drops and spills better than any standard laptop or notebook computer out there. It's just the thing for hard-driving, highly competitive business folks who need a speedy and sturdy mobile computer to match their speedy and sturdy SUV lifestyle. This is not to say that we slower moving types should shun the N15RI. There's plenty there for us too.

If performance and durability aren't enough for you, consider the N15RI's beautiful design. It's hard to fault the Durabook on any count, especially on the way durability itself has been implemented. But, even the keyboard and mouse show the touch of a very thoughtful designer. This is a notebook not just for the home or office and on the road. It would also be comfortable in a museum of modern art.

My only question for Twinhead is: "When will we see a speedier multi-core Durabook?" Having had a little experience with Intel's new Core Duo processors and anticipating the even greater performance we'll see when software becomes available that is written to take full advantage of their multitasking capabilities, I'm tempted to suggest you wait for a Core Duo Durabook instead of buying the N15RI. On the other hand, the N15RI is good enough that I'm comfortable recommending a buy if you need something right now.

Because of its combination of fine business performance, ruggedness and quality design, MobilityGuru awards its Must Have Award to Twinhead Corporation's Durabook N15RI.

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